1.
According to Mark Getlein, in Living with Art,
10th Ed., “[C]olors are actually
components of light…and no object possesses color
intrinsically,” (90-91). The colors that
we see are the colors that are reflected by the items we are viewing. The colors that we do not see, when we look
at an object, are the colors which are being absorbed by that object (Getlein,
91). The primary colors, red, yellow,
and blue “(theoretically at least)…cannot be made by any mixture of other
colors,” (Getlein, 91). Colors associated
with fire, etc. (red, orange) are classified as “warm” and those associated
with water and other things (green, blue) are called “cool” (Getlein, 91). Colors have hue (a name based on the color
wheel), value (“relative lightness or darkness” [Getlein, 92]), and intensity
(level of purity, where great intensity means closeness to the color wheel and
no other mixed in colors). Pigments and
lights of different colors can be mixed.
Colors have relationships with one
another. Depending on their respective
placements on the color wheel, they can seemingly intensify or balance one
another, for example.
Colors can evoke feelings and emotions in
viewers. Cool colors might evoke a
feeling of cold, for example. Depending
on the context in which they are used, light colors (those of a light value)
can bring to mind goodness and hope, and dark colors can remind viewers of evil
and despair.
2. I am most
intrigued at why certain objects absorb some colors of the spectrum and reflect
others. Without a variety of colors in
our world, we would not be able to see very clearly. Colors form implied lines, by separating
objects from one another and making them clearly distinct in our eyes. This thought reminds me of the verse from Psalm
118:23 (NKJV), “This was the LORD’s doing; It is marvelous in our eyes.”
3. The video
entitled Color (http://digital.films.com/play/RJ8PAN)
emphasizes that colors express ideas and evoke feelings. Van Gogh used color in his painting, The Night Café, to express his great
dislike of this ugly café and to evoke some of the distressing feelings and thoughts
that one might have while in such surroundings.
Artists intend that the colors of their works evoke specific feelings in
viewers. These feelings give viewers a
shared experience as they view the art.
Not all viewers will have the same emotional response to a particular
work, though.
4. The video Feelings: Emotions and Art (http://digital.films.com/play/8HLQ96)
discusses several works of art by both Jacques-Louis David and Francisco de
Goya, who lived during the Enlightenment.
The paintings of David often show heroic, beautiful-looking individuals.
The paintings seem to express that
people have potential to do good and achieve great things. David uses colors of lighter values quite extensively
in his paintings. The resulting
perception of light evokes feelings of hope and thoughts of goodness. De Goya, on the other hand, uses colors of
dark value extensively. This darkness
intensifies the emotional impact of his often ugly, gory images. The dark colors evoke feelings of dread,
confusion, and hopelessness. People seem
to universally experience the emotions related above when thinking about
certain light or dark colors. Many seem
to agree that darkness is related to evil and light to good. This may be partly due to the fact that
darkness is the absence of color and light is the source of all colors (Getlein,
90).
References
No comments:
Post a Comment